Institutional Drivers of Responsible Innovation: The Impact of the UN Global Compact in the Digital Age

Abstract

Various actors have increasingly recognized the need to join forces in tackling “grand challenges” – that is, global societal and environmental problems. A core outcome envisioned by such joint efforts is responsible innovation. While the responsible innovation literature has long focused on national initiatives, governmental actors, and the field of science, insights on multi-actor efforts in contributing to responsible innovation remain scarce. Moreover, the changing conditions for actors to communicate and collaborate with each other in the age of digitalization have not yet been sufficiently acknowledged in this context. Drawing on the largest multi-actor sustainability initiative worldwide, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), we seek to close these gaps. Building on the concept of deliberative democracy, we theorize and empirically analyze how and why local UNGC activities and information and communication technologies drive responsible innovation. Our study contributes to the literatures on responsible innovation, global governance initiatives and grand challenges.